Letter: Research contradicts assertion about nature of sexuality

In his recent letter, “Ordinance not fair to everyone,” Mr. Gene Mills claimed that “…sexual attraction, sexual conduct and transgender behavior...” are not “…inborn, involuntary, immutable and morally neutral characteristics…” as are a person’s race, gender and national origin. He appears to believe that being homosexual, bisexual or transgender is a personal choice, since he believes that the behavior of such people is voluntary.

In their book “The Gender of Sexuality,” Virginia Rutter and Pepper Schwartz state “The most widely held conclusion among sex researchers from a variety of disciplines is that homosexuality (and heterosexuality) are related to numerous causes and are biological, genetic, and contextual…” and that they “…vary from individual to individual…”

They go on to state that the “causes for homosexuality in men are different in general from those for homosexuality in women.”

In “A Sex Difference in the Human Brain and its Relation to Transsexuality, J.-N. Zhou, M.A. Hofman, L.J. Gooren and D.F. Swaab state “Our study … supports the hypothesis that gender identity develops as a result of an interaction between the developing brain and sex hormones.”

Janet Shibley Hyde and John D. Delamater, in their college textbook “Understanding Human Sexuality,” explain that biological, neurological, psychological and sociological factors, as well as the varying degrees of interaction between each, are at least some of the factors that determine human gender and sexuality.

These researchers, as well as others, show that, as with the study of quantum physics, rather than answering questions about human sexuality, each new piece of information that is discovered actually creates more questions, revealing an increasingly complex picture.

I believe that people who take the time to actually learn about the subject of human sexuality will see that people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender are every bit as naturally human as Mr. Mills.

Although, having suffered the condemnation of the likes of Mr. Mills and his organization, and suffered the unjustifiable ostracism of society, most are a bit kinder, more compassionate and more understanding toward others.